Locations
Promoting Tolerance and Respect for Diversity
Background and Development Challenges
To support Thailand in tackling cyclical political and developmental challenges which remains deeply polarized today, UNDP works with several stakeholders in developing an uptodate knowledge to address grievances through the framework "Sustaining Peace". UNDP implemented the project entitle "Preventing Violent Extremism through Promoting Tolerance and Respect for Diversity" since 2018 and provide technical assistance to partners in addressing inter-connected issues of governance and over-centralized decision-making and absence of long-term inclusive and participatory government at the local level, with impacts on access to justice and natural resource management issues. The rapid rise of social media has facilitated the consolidation and assertion of identity politics, often acting as an amplifier and projector of ‘fake’ news and hate speech, and – via closed online groups – as a tool for radicalisation of individuals and potential recruitment to violent action. While the latter is a matter for security agencies, Thailand faces a more general challenge of maintaining the health of civic discourse and of building cultural resilience to extremist narratives and violence. Through the project we empower actors in the society and incrase understanding and tolerance towards groups.
As per the UNDP Strategic Plan for 2018-2021, the project approach is to strengthen national capacities for reintegration, reconciliation, peaceful management of conflict and prevention of violent extremism in response to national policies and priorities. This supports pillars I and IV of the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy, and the Sustaining Peace and 2030 Agendas—especially SDG 16 on peaceful, just and inclusive societies.
The twin 2016 General Assembly and Security Council Resolutions 70/262 and 2282 on “Sustaining Peace” are the UN’s strongest commitment to ‘positive peace’ to-date, disconnecting the link between peace and violent conflict and the linear relationship between war, peace and development. Sustaining peace is a comprehensive agenda for preventing the onset, outbreak and recurrence of conflict by addressing its root causes and drivers. It applies across contexts including where there is no open conflict. It is ongoing and iterative and calls for reducing the risks of fragility (conflict drivers) and strengthening the infrastructures for peace and social cohesion.
The Sustaining Peace agenda can help Thailand’s national stakeholders to contextualize the country’s interconnected political, economic and social challenges and how they impact inter-group and state-citizen relations; to understand how inequality and exclusion interplay with identity based grievances in the country; and to see how new challenges such as environmental issues, climate change and the risks of violent extremism can exacerbate existing fault lines.
The sustaining peace framework allows UNDP to better support Thailand to achieve the SDGs, by stepping back from sectoral and projectized interventions and instead propose more integrated solutions; by taking a more deliberate approach to tackling group-based vulnerabilities; and by incrementally offering a broader framing of peace and development to national stakeholders.
It is intended that this project will be implemented as one of a number of UNDP programme interventions for Sustaining Peace in Thailand.
Objectives
The project apply to 4 countries in Southeast Asia; Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, and has an overall objective to strengthen the ability of the Government of Thailand to identify, respond to and prevent violent extremism. Three priority areas of intervention have been identified as pathways toward securing the overall objective:
- Support the Government of Thailand to further develop and implement a gender-responsive National Action Plan (NAP) for PVE, coherent with international standards and commitments, which models the “whole of society” approach as per the ASEAN Regional Action Plan and UN Secretary General’s Plan of Action, and per global good practice;
- Strengthen data collection and analysis to support Government policy making and the targeting of national resources and effort, and as part of a larger intervention to improve knowledge management and facilitate a Community of Practitioners to engage on PVE in Thailand, both centrally and at local level;
- Build the capacities of Government and key civil society actors in Thailand to challenge extremist narratives wherever they occur, working with specific constituencies or communities nationally, locally and online, to promote inclusivity, diversity, peaceful relations between groups, and strengthened social contract between the citizen and the State.
Expected Outcomes
- The cabinet officially adopted the “Guidelines on Strengthening Co-existence amidst Social Diversity” (NAP PVE) in September 2022. This mandates relevant government agencies to integrate these guidelines into their action plans. The National Security Council has demonstrated interest in developing a localized action plan to support local government officials in implementing the guidelines at the community level.
- The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) taken up the PVE agenda in their work through human security approach and open for more collaboration with the NSC for the operationalization of the PVE NAP.
- Established national online database on violence events
Related Signature Solutions: UNDP Strategic Plan 2020-2025
- Poverty and Inequality
- Governance
- Resilience
- Gender Equality
- Successfully support Thailand for the creation of the “Guidelines on Strengthening Co-existence amidst Social Diversity” (NAP PVE) in September 2022. It provides framework for the whole of government and whole of society actions to prevent violent extremism through fostering tolerance and acceptance for diversity. In September 2022, the cabinet successfully adopted the NAP PVE.
- Simultaneously, in response to the NSC's vision for a shift from traditional security approaches to a human security approach, under the project "Promoting a Human Security Approach to PVE in Thailand,” funded by UNHSTF, in partnership with UNODC, UNDP collaborated with NSC and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security to develop a “Handbook on Promoting Human Security Approach to Prevention of Violent Extremism in Thailand.” Based on the multi-sectoral consultations, this resource, aimed at frontline PVE actors such as government officials and civil society, provides guidance on implementing the NAP PVE at the local community level.
- Established first ever online databased on PVE www. knowmorenomoreviolence.com, serving as a community of practice, facilitating knowledge exchange and policy dissemination. Especially, the first national observatory, the Monitoring Centre on Organised Violence Events (MOVE), was established, providing a comprehensive database and visualization platform tracking organized violence events in Thailand
- Empowered ethnic minority youth to voice out their stories through interactive online exhibition https://you-me-we-us.sac.or.th/
- Promote Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and Education on Sustainable Development (ESD) to teachers, educators, and relevant officials in the Southern Border Provinces. An online exhibition was also created to showcase educators’ journey in applying GCED.
